Hotel Tech and Business Travel: Startups Raise $71 Million

14.07.2024 - 21:38 / skift.com / Justin Dawes

Corporate travel, flying taxis, and hotel tech.

Those are three of the most well-funded travel sectors lately, and all three of them made an appearance in this week’s travel startup roundup. And a startup focusing on climate-friendly travel, another growing area, got some funding this week as well.

Five travel startups announced fundraises over the past week totaling more than $70 million.

LimoLane, which provides chauffeur services for businesses, has raised $38.2 million (€35 million). 

Cherry Bay Capital Group led the round. 

Companies can book the LimoLane service for airport transfers, events, and private transport. The service comes with a software platform and app where clients can make bookings, monitor activity, and view financial summaries.

For corporate events, the company also manages hotel bookings and other trip details. 

The company says it has managed mobility services for Milan Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, and Paris Fashion Week.

The Italy-based company says the service is available in many of the world’s largest cities, including New York City, Madrid, Berlin, and Dubai. The company has more than 2,000 clients. 

The funding will go toward expanding business organically and via acquisition, the company said. 

Volant Aviation Technology, which is developing a flying taxi, has raised $13.8 million (100 million Chinese Yuan) in series A funding. 

Legend Capital led the round.

The Shanghai-based company is developing an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to accommodate up to four passengers. 

The funding will go toward test flights and further research and development.

The Hyoosik, which offers a hotel property management system and owns a hotel brand in South Korea, has raised $11.5 million in series B funding. 

TS Frontier Proptech Fund led the round. 

The Seoul-based company offers hotel tech for more than 1,100 hotels and owns a brand, called The Rest, with a portfolio of 170 hotels. The company is focused on the small- and medium-sized hotel market.

The company also offers hotel development and construction services. 

Byway, which sells flight-free travel packages, has raised $6.5 million (£5 million) in an oversubscribed series A funding round.

Heartcore Capital led the round, with participation from Eka Ventures and a group of angel investors. 

London-based Byway offers trip packages across Europe that include ground transportation only, no flights, while pushing sustainable travel as part of its speciality. Byway is a certified B Corp company.

Users can either select a pre-made travel package, or they can create their own through the website’s AI-powered trip planner. Packages include all transportation tickets and hotel bookings, along with